Wrong Number
by StarsAboveUs
Summary: Prompt: some girl at a bar gave you a fake number, but it's mine and this is awkward why is this strange man calling me. AU.
1. Chapter 1

1:45 AM. That's what the clock sitting next to Kate Beckett's bed says. It's 1:45 in the morning…why is she awake? And that's when she hears her phone ring again. With a groan, Kate's hand fumbles around her nightstand, eyes half closed, until she finally finds her phone in the dark. Usually the only people calling her at this time of night are Ryan or Espo to tell her about a body drop, so when a strange man starts talking loudly in her ear she is surprised, and more than a little annoyed.

"Hey beautiful," the voice on the other end of the phone says. From the way his words were slurred, Kate can tell he had been drinking, and she thought this might be some sort of prank call, which only furthers her annoyance.

"Who is this?" she snaps into the phone. This call is messing with her precious sleep schedule. She should just hang up, but some unknown force is keeping her on the phone, the mystery caller inexplicably piquing her interest.

"Don't act like you don't 'member me," the voice huffs, "I thought we got to know each other _very _well at the bar earlier."

For a moment Kate is silent, until understanding dawns on her sleep-deprived brain. He must have the wrong number; he obviously has the wrong number seeing as she definitely wasn't at any bars last night. Kate hasn't had a night out in a while, hasn't had any fun in a while for that matter. She is more focused on solving her mother's murder, moving up the ranks to detective.

Her silent musings are interrupted by a loud crash and she finds herself staring at the phone, wondering what is happening on the other end. She gets her answer a second later. "Sorry…tripped…dropped the phone," he mumbles into the phone.

"Hey, I hope you're ok, but you have the wrong number. I wasn't at any bar last night."

For a long minute the phone is silent, and Kate thinks the stranger must have hung up, but just as she is about to put her own phone down she hears him mumbling…something about 'liar' and 'fake number'. At this she has to stifle a giggle; apparently the girl who he had gotten to know _so well_ had given him a fake number, and it just turned out to be hers.

"I'm sorry you got the wrong number, but I really need to get back to sleep now," Kate said gently. She does feel bad for him, but she needs to get back to bed.

"No. No, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you up." And then, "I can't _believe_ she gave me a fake number!"

This news must have sobered him up because Kate thinks he sounded a little more coherent. And she also realizes he has a nice voice, warm and gentle. She needs to get off the phone, but she finds herself wanting to hear more of his voice. Something about it is very comforting, like wrapping herself in a warm blanket, and she can't get enough of this feeling.

"Are you walking somewhere? Do you need me to call you a cab?" she asks, real concern laced in her voice. The cop in her doesn't like the idea of an intoxicated person wandering around the city in the middle of the night; she doesn't want anything bad to happen to him.

"Yes, I mean no…I am walking but I don't need a cab. I'm almost to my building."

"Ok, will you stay on the phone with me until you get there, so I know you're safe?" Kate questions. She tells herself this was solely for his benefit, so she can make sure he made it home, but she also wants to know more about this stranger.

"Uh, sure. That's awfully nice of you considering I woke you up in the middle of the night," he says sincerely.

"Well I'm a cop, it's my job to protect people – even when it doesn't fit into my schedule."

This gets a chuckle out of him, and Kate finds she likes that sound even more than his voice. She's trying to picture him in her mind; he sounds handsome, broad shouldered, maybe a little scruff on his face. She snorts out loud as she realizes she made up his entire appearance based on his voice, he probably looks nothing like that.

But he must have heard her snort because she hears another low chuckle in her ear and then, "is something funny?"

"Um, no, sorry," Kate stammers. If he were in the room with her, he would see the blush creeping up Kate's neck as she was caught in her daydream. "I think I'm imagining things, I'm just tired."

"Well you're in luck then because I just walked into my building and I'm in the elevator now."

Kate feels an unexplained sadness at his proclamation; she wants to keep talking to him. And what she says next is a total surprise to both of them. "I don't usually do this," she starts, "but would you like to meet for drinks? Um maybe not drinks, breakfast? Lunch?" All of that comes out in a rush, and she starts to panic when he doesn't answer right away.

"Why I'm not sure you're following good safety procedures for an officer of the law," he, finally, answers teasingly. "I could be a criminal for all you know!"

That did cross Kate's mind, but something in his voice tells her it wasn't true. She definitely wants to meet him. "Well I am a cop and that means I always carry a gun, so you can decide if you want to try anything," she replies with a smirk.

"Have it your way…I don't even know your name," he suddenly whispers.

"Kate, my name is Kate."

"Well it's been wonderful talking to you Kate. Thank you for seeing me home safe. My name's Rick by the way."

Rick. That name fits perfectly with the picture Kate formed earlier in her mind, and she had to shake her head to focus on the conversation. She tucks her hair behind her ear, suddenly feeling like a nervous teenager. "It's been my pleasure Rick, and I'm sorry you got the wrong number." Even though she really isn't that sorry.

"I think this call turned out much better than the other one would have. And if you don't mind, I would like to call you at a more appropriate time tomorrow."

"I'm looking forward to it," Kate answers, and she can't stop the butterflies that flutter in her stomach.

Kate is smiling when they finally hang up, and for the first time in a long time, she only has good dreams.


	2. Chapter 2

Kate blinks sleepily, squinting in the morning sun streaming through her windows. She is not fully awake yet, and she is trying to remember a dream she was having last night, something about a man calling the wrong number. It was a nice dream, one of the nicest dreams she has had in awhile.

She rolls over and feels something hard pressing into her hipbone, and reaching down, she pulls her phone out from underneath her, suddenly realizing that last night wasn't a dream. She actually got a phone call from a man, Rick, who had a beautiful voice. The conversation is coming back to her now and Kate sits up with a start as she remembers asking him out on a date. A stranger, in the middle of the night!

A million thoughts start racing through her head. What is she going to do? This man could be crazy for all she knew, and well, he was pretty drunk last night, maybe he forgot all about her and she won't even have to worry about it.

Kate rolls out of bed and shuffles into the kitchen to start brewing some coffee. It's a Saturday but she still needs that morning jolt even when all she has planned for the day is running a few errands around the city.

She drinks her coffee, reads the paper and takes a shower, forgetting all about the stranger on the phone, until her phone rings again. She freezes half way though pulling on a t-shirt, her head comically poking out of the top. Gathering her senses, Kate yanks the shirt all the way on and runs to her nightstand to grab the phone. She doesn't even look at the number before she answers; just assuming it's him.

"Hello?" she answers breathlessly, sitting on the edge of her bed.

"Hi, Kate? This is Rick…from last night?" He phrases the sentence as a question - as if she could forget the conversation, or the way his voice immediately soothes her frazzled nerves.

Kate is waiting for him to keep talking, but then she realizes he is waiting on a response from her. "Oh, sorry, hi! I'm here, I was just…" What? Daydreaming, again? She can't figure out why this strange man has the power to render her speechless, but he does, and she can't think of anything to say.

Thankfully Rick starts talking again. "So I know you asked me out for coffee or lunch last night, but I just wanted to make sure you were still okay with that."

"Oh yeah, of course!" Kate looks at her watch, seeing that it is just after 12:00. "Um would you like to get lunch?"

Rick hesitates, and she hopes she didn't just assume that he still wanted to meet her. The butterflies come back as she waits for his response, but he dispels them instantly with his answer. "That would be great! Do you like Italian? I know a little place in SoHo that makes awesome spaghetti and meatballs. Wait, unless you're a vegetarian then we could go someplace else, but I don't know any good places for that and-"

He's rambling, and Kate thinks it's because he's nervous which for some reason has her grinning like a little kid. "Rick, it's okay, the Italian place sounds great," she interjects before he can think of any other potential problems. "If you just give me the address I can meet you there."

She hears him let out a big sigh of relief, and then hears what sounds like the shuffling of papers. "Okay, hold on," Rick says, "I'm just grabbing the take out menu so I can tell you the address."

* * *

After hanging up the phone, Kate flops back onto her bed, thinking about what she got herself into. While she doesn't believe Rick is a criminal - she figures her police intuition would have kicked in by now if he was - it still is a little weird meeting a total stranger for lunch after two short phone calls. And more importantly, she doesn't know what to wear!

She hasn't been on a date in while, so she just stares into her closet for minute, panic rising in her throat. Kate is trying to think of what Lanie would suggest when she remembers the pair of jeans that apparently "make her ass look great". So she pulls on the jeans, keeps on the t-shirt she hastily pulled on earlier, and puts her hair in a ponytail. She adds a few swipes of mascara and some lip gloss, casual but cute, and she is ready to go.

She takes the elevator to the ground floor and practically skips out to the street in excitement. The doorman gives her a second glance as he recognizes her without her police uniform and generally tired expression, but she just waves and walks towards the street to hail a taxi.

After telling the driver the address, Kate sits fidgeting in the backseat as the excitement starts to wear off and the butterflies once again take up residence in her stomach. What if she gets there and Rick doesn't show up?

The little Italian bistro is quaint and she can already smell the fresh baked bread and marinara sauce, which makes her stomach growl with hunger. She walks into the restaurant and tells the hostess who she is meeting, who then points her in the direction of a table near the back.

After a few calming breaths, Kate starts to walk towards the table, but as she gets close she stops in her tracks, taking in the man waiting for her.

She can only see his profile from this angle but he somehow looks exactly like she pictured last night; tall, broad shoulders, dark hair causally ruffled, a little scruff on his jaw telling her he didn't shave this morning. Something about him seems familiar, but she can't quite figure out why.

Rick must sense her staring, because he suddenly looks up at her, causing her to blush in embarrassment. He stands up too quickly, almost knocking his chair over, and Kate smiles with understanding. She is just relieved to know she isn't the only one nervous about this date.

She walks over to his table where Rick holds out his hand to shake hers. "Hi, you must be Kate," he says with a boyish grin.

"Yes, and you must be Rick," she answers back with a smile of her own.

"That's me!" He pulls out her chair for her and then takes his seat on the other side of the table "I know it's only noon, but I ordered us some wine," he says sheepishly, "I hope you don't mind."

"Not at all, that actually sounds wonderful."

A minute later, their server brings out the wine, just as Rick starts asking about her life as a police officer.

Later Kate will blame it on his comforting voice, and charming looks, but she finds herself opening up to him more than she has to anybody in a long time. She even told him about her mom's death, that she was the reason she joined the force. About how her dad turned to alcohol because he couldn't deal with it.

After she basically told him her life story, Kate looked down at her lap, blushing. "I'm sorry, that was probably more than you wanted to know," she said timidly; she didn't want to scare him off on their first date.

"No, I am honored that you would share that with me, and I think what you are doing is very brave." His voice is so earnest, it makes Kate's eyes fill with tears.

Rick must see the shine in her eyes because he reaches across the table for her hand, and starts rubbing circles with his thumb. "Hey, I'm sorry, don't cry. We can talk about something else now," he says sincerely. "What do you want to know about me?"

She uses her free hand to wipe the wetness from her eyes, and looks up at him with a small smile, "what do you do for a living?"

"Um, I'm a writer," he answers shyly.

And that's when it clicks. Kate's eyes light up with recognition as she realizes that she's on a date with none other than Richard Castle.


	3. Chapter 3

Rick looks up and sees the flash of recognition in Kate's eyes, which makes him even more nervous. He doesn't know what has come over him; Richard Castle isn't usually one to shy away from attractive women, but somehow Kate feels different.

Most of the women he meets like to throw themselves at him, constantly flirting and asking him to sign their chests. Normally he doesn't mind, normally he enjoys it, but for some reason he wants to be different in front of Kate.

She's so beautiful, just in her jeans and a t-shirt. God, he can't imagine what she would look like in a low-cut dress, or better yet, one of his button downs.

But there is something more vulnerable, more real about her than any other woman he has ever met. She isn't trying to impress him, or use him for his money. And she told him all about her mother's death, something he guesses she doesn't tell many people.

He can already tell that Kate is someone he needs to know a lot more about.

He suddenly realizes she is still looking at him, and he blinks slowly a couple of times to get the images out of his head. He drops the hand he had been rubbing with his thumb, feeling self-conscious about the action after he was picturing her…in less clothes than she's wearing now.

"Why didn't you tell me who you were before now?" she asks, her voice equally surprised and awed.

"I just didn't want you to make assumptions about me, from my name. I didn't want you to say no based on who the tabloids say I am." He is getting anxious, afraid that Kate will walk away, but she doesn't make any move to leave.

"Well, I don't have much time to read tabloids, but you seem nice enough," she replies, a small smile forming on her lips.

Rick lets out an audible sigh, relief flooding through him as he realizes that Kate isn't going anywhere.

* * *

Suddenly their waiter appears next to the table, and both Kate and Rick lean back in their chairs, not even realizing how close they had gotten during their brief exchange.

Neither of them actually read the menu, but they both order the spaghetti and meatballs, eager to get back to the conversation.

"So, I assume since you recognized me you…may have read some of my books?" Rick looks like a kid waiting for a gold star from his teacher, and she can't figure out why. It's not like he hasn't been recognized for his books before. But something in his face tells her that her opinion really matters to him.

Kate looks into her lap, wondering how much more of her soul she can bare to this man before she breaks down. "Yeah," she answers shyly, "after my mom's death I didn't go out much, and I ended up reading a lot. Your books were some of my favorites, they got me through a lot of tough times."

She looks up again to find Ricks eyes shining with gratitude, his lips quirking into a smile, and Kate has the sudden urge to lean over and kiss him. She sinks her teeth into her bottom lip instead, and she notices that Rick's eyes move down to her mouth.

Kate doesn't understand what is happening to her. Why can't she think of anything to say? Why does she want to kiss him so bad?

They both just look at each other for a few moments, neither of them knowing what to say next, until Rick breaks the silence. "So, now what we've got all the heavy stuff out of the way, maybe we should talk about something less serious," he says with a chuckle.

Kate sucks in a breath, remembering the sound of his laugh on the phone last night, and she feels the same sense of comfort that she did then.

"Let's start with something simple," he says when she fails to say anything. "How about your last name?"

"It's Beckett," she says simply, thankful that it was an easy question.

"Kate Beckett." He repeats her name, and she can't help but love the way it sounds rolling off his tongue.

* * *

They spend the rest of the night getting to know each other better; favorites and firsts, childhood memories, plans for the future. Kate hears all about Rick's daughter, and joins in his laughter as he regales her with tales of the spunky red head. Kate tells him what it's like working for the NYPD, and working with Ryan and Espo.

At one point, Kate looks down at her watch and gasps as she realizes that they have been talking for five hours. How is that possible? It seems like they just got here!

Kate thinks that she should go, that famous author Richard Castle probably has other things to do, but he is still looking at her and hanging on every word she says. She blushes, unsure of what to say next. She doesn't want to stop talking with him, but they can't stay in the restaurant forever.

Just as she gets the nerve to ask Rick over for coffee, he speaks up first. "Would you like to come over? I don't live far from here…you could meet Alexis; I know she'll love you. Um, I think we have some ice cream if you want dessert. Or I have coffee…oh and you'll have to meet my mother."

He cringes a little at that last thought, but Kate assures him that it will be fine. She reaches across the table and takes his hand in hers, mimicking the soothing circles he had used on her earlier.

"If your family is anything like you, I'm sure they are wonderful. I would love to meet them."

A huge grin forms on Ricks face as he tugs her hand to get her to stand with him. They walk hand in hand through the restaurant, and just as they cross through the door into the cool evening air, Rick leans in close to whisper in Kate's ear.

"I'm so glad I got the wrong number last night." His voice, low and gravelly, sends shivers up Kate's spine.

He lingers there for a moment, and just before he turns away, Kate turns her face to meet his, placing a soft kiss on his lips.

"Me too," she whispers back, and she has never been more sure of anything before.

_A/N: I just want to say thank you for all the kind words I've received about this story, I appreciate it so much! This is the last chapter, but I hope you enjoyed the story. Also thank you to Alex for being my beta. _


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